Law Enforcement

Magistrates handle internal affairs of the process of government, and judges handle the sentencing and punishment; but when it comes to actually catching criminals, that’s the duty of law enforcement. On the Isle, law enforcement usually falls two major organizations.

Organizations

Black-Helms

The Guardians of Peace and Order In the Realm are sometimes called Guardians when someone is being polite, but are usually known as the Black-Helms. The Black-Helms enforce the laws on peasants – they’re the ones that catch pick-pockets, smugglers, and so forth.

Black Helms are known for their distinctive helmets, big conical things made with black scale. They all have a fancy red belt with a seal on it: a pentagram cast in bronze. Usually they’ve got swords or a pike.

Black-Helms are mostly beneath the notice of the Dynasty; there’s no reason for Dynasts to interact with them. Mostly, it’s just kind of trusted that the Black-Helms are doing their job okay – after all, if they weren’t, the peasants and slaves would be having all sorts of horrible rebellions all over the place!

Silver-Belts

The Force for Imperial Safety in the Homeland are also called the Force, but most people know them as the Dragon-Handlers. These are the guys a Dynast should be wary of – they’re the ones who actually do the arresting when a magistrate decides to stick their nose into someone’s business.

They’re identifiable by their silver sashes and buckles, with the red jade pentagram. Many Dynasts have childhood stories of some relative who got hauled off by the Silver-Belts for causing too many problems. They’re all serious, dangerous people – they have to be, if their job is to haul away Princes who get on the wrong side of the law. Many of the Silver-Belts have a Prince leading their unit, so that things will go smoothly.

Crimes

All sorts of crimes take place in the Dynasty: espionage, assassination, duels, breaking-and-entering. It’s kind of just accepted that a lot of this goes down on the daily somewhere on the Isle and it’s not the end of the world as long as things are kept subtle.

The kinds of crimes that end up in court are generally pretty fancy – stuff like money-laundering schemes to turn criminal income into legitimate cash, or schemes of embezzlement, or paying off bandits, that sort of thing. A lot of them have cash or murder at the heart. Judges have to be extra careful when dealing with Chosen cases.

The more visceral kind of crimes happen too, although not as frequently. Murder, assault, arson… All those dirty, savage crimes still happen, and that’s when the Silver-Belts get involved with a Magistrate and shit really hits the fan. Most such crimes end up being huge topics of gossip.

As for peasants… Who knows. Who cares? They’re probably always killing each other over whose rice is whose and punching each others’ big stupid faces for bedding someone’s spouse’s cousin, and so on. Whatever kind of mischief the peasants get up to, they don’t generally end up in court.